“If it’s not about me and you, then let me do it.”
I shook my head. “Why do you have this death wish?”
“Me? You’ve got two kids who I know are alive despite what you told Balak. Why do you have the death wish?”
I sighed. I was so tired of arguing with him. “Fine. Take it.”
He winked. “I knew you’d see it my way.”
“What’s your signal?”
“You’ll know it. It won’t be one of your crazy animal calls for sure.”
I gave his back a sour look and scooted from the edge.
* * *
We waited in four smaller teams of three in a semicircle around the perimeter. Me, Ira, Dekar, and Reuma led each team.
Timing needed to be perfect. My squad couldn’t go after the enemy guards on the perimeter and raise an alarm too soon. Otherwise, it would create an uproar in the Geneshan camp that would likely get Hamath and his unit discovered before he placed the globe.
We waited some more.
Patience is a virtue in almost any situation, but it is not an easy one to put into practice in times of war. The longer a soldier waits, the more a soldier thinks. And in the moments before battle, those thoughts are rarely good.
As time passed, I grew more worried about Hamath. How long would I wait before I called the mission a failure? Could I find an alternative to do some damage to the army? Would I go in after him, or assume he was likely dead and return to Balak with my tail between my legs?
All those questions were put to rest when a large ball of bright orange fire shot into the sky. It rose thirty feet above the ground before spreading and dissipating outward. A cacophony of confusion erupted from the Geneshan camp.
“Was that the globe?” asked Boaz next to me.
“Nope. I believe that’s Hamath’s signal.”
Molak only knew how he made it.
“Go,” I hissed, leaping up from the mounded earth we hid behind.
We made a straight line to the closest of the enemy guards. He was distracted by the commotion in the aftermath of the fireball and hadn’t seen our approach until we were almost on him. He managed to draw his sword, but he didn’t get it raised in time to defend against the edge of my weapon biting into his neck.
I left him for dead while quickly scanning the area. Boaz and Maksim, another older veteran, finished off a guard. I shifted my gaze, watching Ira, Dekar, and Reuma’s teams handle their targets with equal success. A total of ten Geneshans went down without any injury to our own.
Team leaders glanced my way. I waved them forward.
The horses were roughly fifty yards away, which under normal circumstances wouldn’t be too great a distance to cover. However, more Geneshan soldiers came running in from the left and right.
I surged past Boaz and Maksim to engage the enemy as the heat of battle began to overtake me. “Stick to the plan,” I yelled while bring my sword around.
It clashed against a Geneshan axe, sending a jolt up my arm. The soldier tried to pull away for another attack, but I pushed when he pulled, keeping our weapons together as my sword slid down the length of his. At the last moment, I twisted and dug into his arm.
He howled in surprise, pain distracting him long enough for me to thrust my sword into his chest and twist. I pulled the weapon free and engaged the next man, disposing of him with a parry and a slash down his chest and into his stomach. In the past, that slash might not have been a deathblow, but we had obviously caught the Geneshans off guard, and many were not dressed in full gear.
I shifted my stance with a fast pivot while turning my blade to catch a sweep coming in from my left. I brought my blade around low while ducking under a sword from behind. My sword took off the lower leg of the man in front of me. He fell back screaming.
I dove and rolled away from another stab from the opponent behind me. I came up ready as the man thrusted. I allowed the attack through, stepping aside rather than deflecting. With the Geneshan soldier’s weight mostly on his front leg, he was not able to turn and deflect my next attack, a cut at his midsection. He swung wildly in response. I knocked his blade aside and struck him with a fist. His head rocked backward, and my sword cut through his neck, collarbone, and chest.
I looked for another enemy, but the only ones I saw were dead, bleeding out on the ground. Casting my gaze farther out, piles of Geneshans lay about while the teams led by Ira, Dekar, and Reuma pushed on. Each team still consisted of three men. We hadn’t lost anyone. Yet. However, Lowt held his side with a bloody hand, and beside him someone I couldn’t make out shuffled on with a heavy limp.
The teams reached the edge of the horses just as a shout from Boaz caught my attention.
I spun, and ran into the shifting animals, following his yell. The horses were unsettled, shuffling and neighing with all the excitement. I had to be careful. Death by stampede did not seem like a pleasant way to die.
I nudged a dark brown mare aside. I caught a glimpse of Boaz holding off three Geneshans. He protected an injured Maksim who was on the ground, conscious, but it didn’t look like he would remain that way for long. He no longer held a sword, both hands pressed to his stomach. Blood covered his armor.
My anger flared. Though I had good reason to send them ahead, all I could think about was Maksim had suffered a mortal wound because of my decision.
I gave a growl that caused two of the three Geneshans fighting Boaz to turn my way. They came at me fast. I stepped around the first man, parrying his eager thrust. The edge of my sword swept around and sliced into the back of his neck, decapitating him. The sight gave the second Geneshan pause. It gave me none, and as the man gawked, I stabbed through his chest. I yanked my sword free before he had a chance to respond.
I wheeled hastily, worried about Boaz, but the third Geneshan was dead. Boaz kneeled at Maksim’s side. I noticed four other bodies besides the three just killed.
They had done well for themselves.
Maksim started to shake. Boaz looked up at me. “What do we do?’
“Can you stay in a saddle?” I asked Maksim.
“I’m done. Just leave me and—”
To Boaz I said, “Get him mounted, then you both get to the rally point as fast as you can. Try to lead off a few extra horses if you’re able.”
“But—”
“That’s an order. Go.”
I turned my back on them and began unhitching other mounts as fast as I could to create more chaos and draw more of the Geneshans toward me.
I looked over the top of the mounts and saw other squads unhitching mounts too. Reuma caught my eye and gave a thumbs up. That made me feel a little better.
“We’re off, Tyrus,” Boaz called out.
I glanced back and watched him lead four mounts away with Maksim behind him, leaning forward in the saddle.
Though we were not out of the woods and sadly, Maksim would likely be dead soon, a small weight came off my shoulders with Boaz out of immediate danger.
The remaining weight wouldn’t budge until both my unit and Hamath’s was out of range of the globe.
I cut a few more mounts free then looked again at the Geneshan camp. Several members of Hamath’s squad sprinted in our direction. I couldn’t see Hamath though. I swore and jumped on the nearest horse.
Higher, I caught a glimpse of him much farther back.
Geneshan soldiers ran full tilt after Hamath’s unit and toward us as they watched their cavalry horses melt away.
I turned to where the other members of my unit either fought random Geneshan guards, or busied themselves unhitching more mounts.
“Ira! Dekar! Both of you take a man and as many mounts as you can manage. Get them to Hamath’s squad,” I said pointing in their direction. “Reuma! Get anyone severely injured out of here and cut loose every last horse you can until Ira comes riding back
your way, then everyone out!”
I kicked my mount forward. I didn’t need a response. They heard me. It would get done.
I galloped with sword in hand and rode past the first two men from Hamath’s unit. As I took the arm off a pursuing Geneshan, an arrow zipped past me, followed by another. I ignored them. Not much else I could do. I had light armor on so the arrow wouldn’t kill me if it found its mark unless it took me in the head or neck, an impossibly difficult shot to make when the target was on horseback.
Or so I hoped.
I took out several more Geneshans with a hack or a kick. Twice, I ran the enemy down using my horse as a weapon. A fearless mount was a handy thing in battle.
Finally, I reached Hamath. He had been forced to stop as several Geneshans encircled him. Another dozen were within moments of joining the group.
I dashed toward him, slicing off half a Geneshan’s face, severing an outstretched enemy arm, and kicking another in the chin.
“Get on!” I shouted.
From the corner of my eye, Hamath finished off another before jumping behind me. I spun the horse, knocking the sword from a thrusting Geneshan.
“Hurry,” he said. “We don’t have much time.”
I kicked my horse forward with the enemy charging. Arrows zipped by all around us. Ahead, Ira and Dekar fought against a small cluster of Geneshans as the last of Hamath’s squad got themselves mounted.
“Everyone go!” I shouted.
They all broke free and kicked their horses hard.
Something painful struck my right upper arm. I swore, glancing at the wound. The point of a crossbow bolt jutted out one side of my arm, the fletching poked out the other.
“Molak’s balls!”
“You all right?”
“Fine,” I said, urging my mount on.
The rest of the men, as well as any horses they had managed to wrangle with them, were ahead of us. Riding double had put us in the rear, though still far ahead of the fading enemy. I peeked over my shoulder as a couple of Geneshans managed to capture some of the loose horses. They might be on us soon, but I wasn’t worried about five or six against our number.
The earth began to rumble, a low growl like an alpha dog being challenged.
Hamath muttered, “I thought we had more time than that.”
The growl increased in volume. The earth shook, causing the horse to panic. It took effort to control the creature.
The rumble stopped suddenly. I turned the horse at an angle to watch the Geneshan camp as we fled. Then like a flash of lightning, a pulse that caused the air to shiver over the camp struck. It sent a wave of power outward in all directions. The ground rippled, dirt and rock took to the sky.
I didn’t have to kick the horse beneath me. It felt the power and ran harder. I just had to hold on. The others crested a small rise in the land ahead of us, quickly disappearing to the other side. We weren’t far from that rise and closing fast.
When we joined the others, we jumped off our mounts in unison.
We each hit the ground hard, and lay flat as the wave of power ran above us, practically ripping the air right from our lungs. A high shrilling noise buzzed so that I couldn’t hear a blasted thing. My entire body shook. My insides felt as though they were going to come up my throat or out my rear. Never had a destruction globe done that to me before.
Then just when I felt I might die, everything stopped. Complete silence followed.
I sat up, blinking, once more aware of the wound in my arm. I must have hit it when jumping from my mount. It bled worse than before.
I looked around as did everyone else. My ears rang.
“Everyone all right?” I asked. My voice sounded a little like I spoke into an old clay jar.
“What?” several mouthed.
Looks of confusion came from others as fingers went into ears. Instinctively, I did the same hoping a wiggle might restore some hearing. Though my resistance ensured that little of the sorcery affected me directly, physical consequences brought on by sorcery could and had harmed my ability to hear some. A loud noise was still a loud noise, regardless of the catalyst to it.
I went around touching everyone, using my resistance to speed their recovery and draw away sorcery.
Our hearing slowly returned, mine faster, but I wondered if the sorcery had done permanent damage to the others especially. If so, I hoped it could be restored by the healers. A muted sense of sound would do us no favors on upcoming missions.
The horses we managed to save stood farther back behind a rock cluster. They looked rough, but surprisingly all lived.
I did a count of Hamath’s men and saw he was three short. I held up three fingers and he understood, answering with a nod.
Boaz caught my attention next as he knelt over Maksim. His head was bowed in prayer. Maksim’s chest did not move.
One of mine dead too.
Though our casualties paled in comparison to what we had inflicted on the enemy, it still stung to know I had failed those four.
“Sir,” said someone behind me.
I faced Reuma. She and Ira stood on the top of the rise, staring out in the direction of the Geneshan camp.
“Did it take most of the camp out?” I asked. The globe was much stronger than my experience with others.
“Most? No.”
I hustled up the rise and stood beside Reuma.
My hanging jaw joined theirs.
There was no camp. In fact, there wasn’t much of anything for a mile in either direction. Certainly not any sign of life. Instead, a massively wide crater, probably ten feet deep, remained. I thought I saw bits of debris—cloth, armor, and maybe even a few body parts. But not much else.
“Oh,” I said.
“Do you think Balak has anything else like that lying around?” asked Reuma.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I’m sure going to find out.”
Gods, a few more globes could put a stop to any Geneshan army.
CHAPTER 13
According to Balak, the High Mages had hesitated to create the destruction globe. They couldn’t guarantee the strength and stability of it since sorcery had changed with the eruptions. During the process, one of the High Mages almost died. Therefore, even after I explained what had happened, Balak would not entertain the idea of creating anymore of the weapons. He said he wouldn’t lose any High Mages until he was ready to initiate his plan at Hol.
I understood. I just didn’t like the decision.
Though I understood Balak’s decision about the globe, he was not so understanding about my choice to defy his orders. Even though my replacement successfully continued training the army as I had instructed, the risk of losing me was enough for Balak to tear me a new one. The injury to my arm only helped make his point.
Thankfully, the yelling occurred inside his tent so few, other than his personal guard, heard it. Though I had stood up to him previously, I chose not to this time. I had broken an order and deserved the tongue lashing I got because of it.
He had threatened me with shackles, and Balak was never one to renege on a promise. At least he saw the ridiculousness of me walking around with a chain on my wrists shackled through my belt down to my ankles. Not exactly an inspiring vision of a commander. Still, he chained my ankles. He gave me enough slack not to hinder my stride, but it was restrictive enough to make his point.
Within the first two hours of leaving his tent, someone decided it was time to challenge me again. I didn’t blame them. I was a much easier target with my legs hindered. I presumed they hoped to take me off guard, but I was no fool and had expected that someone wouldn’t be unable to pass up the opportunity.
They did me the service of challenging me in the open which allowed for another opportunity to drive home the point that I would not be beaten. In fact, I used the confrontation as a lear
ning experience. The chain around my ankles came in handy after I took the soldier to the ground and wrapped the metal links around his neck until he submitted.
A soldier should learn to use everything at his disposal as a weapon.
CHAPTER 14
As Ava stared out at the bleak landscape from the top of another recently formed low hill, she wasn’t really sure where she stood on the existence of gods and goddesses at the moment. Her hatred remained constant.
Ava and her brother had often wondered about the existence of gods and goddesses as children. They had both changed their opinions several times over their lives. The one thing that never changed was their opinion of said gods. If fake, they hated the divine beings for the way people seemed to follow and worship something that was nothing more than a figment of imagination. If real, they hated the deities for the inability to do anything worthwhile.
Like stopping the end of the world.
It seemed like they were purposefully doing everything they could to stop her from getting south. Weeks had passed, yet they were barely any closer to the Southern Kingdoms. Rivers had appeared in spots they weren’t supposed to, giant fissures cut through what once was open land, rocky terrain had sprung up out of previously rich forest. She had seen these things before, of course, as they had journeyed south before Tyrus left the group. The main challenge was that instead of being on the lookout for small bands of raiders, small armies now blocked the clear paths in the land.
And we have no hope of defending ourselves against them. We keep training, but really we’re too thin in numbers to fight the forces we’re seeing if it comes right down to it.
Fifty Malduks here. A hundred Geneshans there. Gods, we must have passed seven hundred soldiers by now. And that’s only the ones we know about.
She stared at smoke drifting up from a distant tree line where Eder said another army rested. They, like all the others, appeared to be traveling north.
Heading right to you, big brother. I hope Balak knows that.
Her gut tightened.
How many more are out there? What’s with this big convergence? Are the Geneshans trying to take Turine while it’s in shambles? She looked around. Why would they want it now?
Resurrected Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Three Page 15